A crisis meeting was held yesterday between private rest home administrators and Age Concern to begin hammering out solutions to increasing concerns over the future of Bermuda's rest homes.

As a result, it was agreed to begin a feasibility study to determine the amount of public assistance needed to keep the homes open in the long-run. "(Age Concern) directors present agreed to assist in approaching the corporate donor community in order to undertake a feasibility study to identify the specific financial shortfalls in hopes of averting an impending eldercare crisis," a statement from Age Concern said.

"In addition, the directors present agreed to approach Government, at the appropriate time, in order to lobby for an elimination and/or reduction of customs duty on essential eldercare goods and service items."

Representatives from eight of the Island's private rest homes (Packwood Home, Westmeath, Matilda Smith Williams, Sunset Gardens, Yellow Roses, Palmetto Palms, Twilight Seniors, and Elder Home Care) attended the meeting, along with a special committee of the Board of Directors of Age Concern, an elder-care watchdog organisation.

The Age Concern directors included chairperson Walter Roberts, patron Lady Swan, Parliamentary representatives Government party whip Ottiwell Simmons and Shadow Community and Seniors Affairs Minister Louise Jackson, and Age Concern director Claudette Fleming. Also present as observers were Age Concern supporters The Bank of Bermuda Foundation and the ACE Foundation.

"The meeting was called by Age Concern in response to a call by operators that there are growing financial concerns in the residential eldercare system," said the statement from Age Concern.

"The meeting revealed that the three main concerns facing home operators over the past three months include:

The rising cost of operating residential care homes, with a particular concern in the financing of qualified staff, the purchasing of personal care items and food, and costs associated with customs duty;

the inconsistency and insufficiency of payouts by Government through the Department of Financial Assistance to the various categories of care providers;

the growing inability of seniors and their families to meet the rising costs of eldercare."

The meeting also highlighted the distinction between not-for-profit, private and Government homes. Approximately 73 percent of the Island's residential elder homes are operated by non-Government institutions in the private and not-for-profit sector. With three Government parish homes closed (St. George's, Sandys and Devonshire), those attending the meeting formed a "significant foundation of the elder residential care system in Bermuda".

The group will be meeting again shortly to discuss further action.